Travelers of All Ages: The Mount of Olives

If I use Mount to abbreviate Mount of Olives, please don’t confuse it with the Temple Mount, which I also use Mount for.

This post is going to be about the Mount of Olives, an experience that I think many people miss out on. The Mount of Olives is really just a hill just outside the Old City of Jerusalem. However, it is very important in the Christian Bible, and the hill is covered in churches that commemorate events in Jesus’ final days. I would still encourage you to go even if you aren’t Christian, though, because there are other things that make the hill unique.

Before Going: 6/10

Reason for Score: I thought my time would be better spent in Jerusalem proper, rather than walking through a biblical graveyard

Why you should go:

My three favorite parts about the Mount of Olives are the incredible views, the famous graves, and the Christian sites. The Mount really does have amazing views over the City of Jerusalem. All of the postcard pictures of Jerusalem and the Golden Dome are taken from here. I don’t think there is any better place to see the legendary Temple Mount, on which the Golden Dome sits, than this hill. The second reason to go is to see the well-known Jewish graves on the hill. Famous Jews have been buried here since ancient times. They choose to be buried here, because, according to the Bible, this is where God will come to judge the Earth. The people buried here will therefore be the first to be resurrected. The final reason to go is the plethora of Christian sites from the New Testament. My favorites are the Pater Noster, where Jesus taught his disciples the Our Father, the Dominus Flevit Church, where Jesus wept upon having a vision of Jerusalem burning, and the Basilica of the Agony, where Jesus was betrayed by Judas and taken to be crucified. The Mount of Olives is a great part of any trip to Jerusalem.

How:

It is up to your personal preference whether or not to go with a guide. I did, but only because I didn’t want to waste any time navigating from place to place. If you do want to have a guided tour, I recommend the Mount of Olives Tour from New Jerusalem Tours, at www.newjerusalemtours.com. They will take you to see the graves, the views, and the churches. If you are going alone, I suggest bringing the guidebook Jerusalem, Israel, Petra, and the Sinai, from Eyewitness Books. They have a great section on the Mount, that lists a lot more of the churches than I have here.

When you are seeing the Mount, you should first walk to the top and then visit sights as you walk down. This will allow you to enjoy the magnificent views as you wander among the various churches and graves. The walk isn’t hard, but you should bring a water bottle just in case. You can really spend as long as you want on the hill, but I saw everything I wanted to within two or three hours. If you want to learn a little about the Mount of Olives before you go (like I did), I particularly liked the documentary Jerusalem: Center of the World. They talk extensively about the Mount and its history, as well as Jerusalem in general. I watched it at least eight times in preparation for my trip.

After Going: 9/10

Reason for Score: It was a great part of my Jerusalem experience

The Mosque (?) of the Ascension, where Jesus ascended to heaven

The inside of the Mosque of the Ascension, with a niche in the wall indicating the direction of Mecca for Muslim prayer

The rock that supposedly bears the footprint of Jesus, where he last touched the Earth

The Our Father, in every language you could think of

The Our Father in Icelandic and Latvian

The Church of the Pater Noster, or Our Father

The grotto in the Pater Noster where the prayer was taught in Christian Tradition

A great view of the Temple Mount over the scores of dead people

The Gates of Mercy, where the Messiah is supposed to enter through to save the world, ...curiously bricked up

The Dominus Flevit (the Lord wept), where Jesus wept after he foresaw the destruction of the Temple

Inside the Dominus Flevit, me silhouetted against the Dome of the Rock

The many domed Church of St. Mary Magdalene, owned by Russian nuns

The breathtaking view of the Dome of the Rock

The real Garden of Gethsemane, with those famous Olive trees

The rocky outcrop where Jesus knelt to pray before being betrayed by Judas

The view of St. Mary Magdalene from the Temple Mount

The Mount of Olives. You can see the Pater Noster in the upper right hand corner, and Dominus Flevit on the left. The grey part is the thousands upon thousands of Jewish graves